~ Being more, in Baltimore

Eating More in Baltimore: Langermann’s

Welcome to a new feature at Bmore Sara! As part of my resolution to blog more, I want to try to write about local restaurants, bars, and other outlets.

Langermann’s puzzles me. It advertises itself as a local eatery, but its scale and gloss suggest the heavy intervention of venture capital. Presumably, some of those precious venture capital dollars went toward fancy baffling technology because the other puzzle about Langermann’s is how a large restaurant can boast high ceilings and exposed brick but not deafen patrons when it’s crowded. I’ve never struggled more than usual to keep up with conversation at this restaurant.

I’ve probably been to the original, Boston Street location in the Can Company about five times. (I’ve yet to visit the recently opened the Federal Hill location.) Visits have all been for lunch, brunch, or late afternoon snacking. I’ve never had a proper dinner at Langermann’s — probably because I prefer a more intimate and homey location when that option is available. Today Bill and I took advantage of a Living Social offer Bill spotted last week: $30 got us a pitcher of mimosas and our choice of four brunch entrees. When we arrived, we learned that the offer was universal: those four items were the only meals available at Langermann’s this afternoon.

The pitcher of mimosas was tasty. Served in a plastic beer pitcher with a large scoop of ice, it did not skimp on the bubbly, and the orange juice was not cut rate. I overheard a bartender say she had already made more mimosas today than she ever had in her life, and I believe her — they were cranking them out!

I would have thought that with a four-item menu, the kitchen would crank with similar gusto. Alas, we were left to wait for our meal for quite a while. Ray and Harriet (more on them later), who arrived after us, received their meals well before us. Just as disappointing, the bar staff never acknowledged the delay — and kind of avoided acknowledging us much at all until our food showed up.

Fortunately, the meal was solid. My Langermann’s Hash included chorizo and potatoes, with scrambled egg. The scrambled egg was both skimpy and overdone, but the spicy hash made up for it. Bill’s Eggs Chesapeake looked lovely: two poached eggs on top of meaty crab cakes on two halves of an English muffin, all topped with a tasteful helping of hollandaise. Any more hollandaise would have been overkill, as the egg yolk added its own richness to the crab cake and toasted muffin below. A small bowl of sweetish grits seemed somewhat out of place — a small dressed salad might have fit in better.

In general the atmosphere at the bar was friendly but subdued. Separate groups tended to remain separate, although we did have a very friendly conversation with our bar-neighbors, Ray and Harriet. In all, lounging over brunch at the bar in Langermann’s was an entirely acceptable, low-key way to acclimate to the new year.